


This Involuntary Musical Imagery

by Writing_will_be_my_death



Series: The Sound Our Hearts Make [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Humanstuck, Karkat loves Dave’s music, M/M, Music, but he doesn’t like Dave, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 06:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14099655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_will_be_my_death/pseuds/Writing_will_be_my_death
Summary: Karkat meets Dave, a douchebag who makes infuriatingly good music.





	This Involuntary Musical Imagery

**Author's Note:**

> They don’t actually like eachother yet, sorry :/

When Karkat Vantas met Dave Strider in March of 9th grade, he thought for sure he’d hate him. What was Egbert thinking, that Karkat would get along with this insufferable prick? Karkat barely got along John Egbert himself, how would he get along with someone who only ever did anything “ironically”? 

Especially with those dumbass shades. They infuriated Karkat, he couldn’t read any of Dave’s emotions! His voice never changed tone, his lips moved the bare minimum necessary to make words come out, and his eyes were covered by those dumbass shades Karkat could see his reflection in.

“Dave’s not actually as ‘cool’ as he says he is,” John had said after Karkat had met Dave, “he’s actually a total nerd. Oh man, you should listen to his music!”

“Why the ever loving fuck would I want to listen to that insufferable pricks’ music, you illiterate douche muffin,” Karkat had snapped back.

“Because!” John had started, searching for the right words, “He works really hard on them!”

Karkat had merely answered with an eye roll.

“Look, his username on SoundCloud is TurntechGodhead, check out some of his stuff. And I know you have an account, CarcinoGeneticist!”

“Fuck you, there’s no way I’ll ever listen to his shitty music,” Karkat had enforced, “now if you’ll excuse me, I should be getting home now.”

Karkat didn’t listen to any of Dave’s music that night. It was probably for the best, considering what had happened the next day.

~

“Karkat, dude, bro,” Dave said to Karkat as he tried to get ready for class.

“Fuck off dick licker, can’t you see I’m having a life or fucking death battle with my locker and school bag?” Karkat had yelled at him.

“Woah dude, what’d they ever do to you?” Dave had asked, his voice still infuriatingly monotone, “All they wanted was to settle down, raise a goddamn family, attend PTA meetings. Maybe they yelled at Brenda, but c’mon man, Brenda’s a bitch. She brought fucking oatmeal raisin cookies and didn’t tell anyone that’s what they were. Janet ate one and completely lost her shit, saying that that deceptive bitch ‘Brenda’ shouldn’t fool her into thinking there are chocolate chip cookies, when there are actually only shitty oatmeal raisin cookies. Seriously Brenda, what the fuck, no one likes oatmeal raisin-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Karkat yelled.

“Yeah no. Egbert told me he gave you my SoundCloud username, and I’m fucking hurt bro that no CarcinoGeneticist liked any of my tracks,” Dave had complained.

“And he never will, now fuck off, you ass faced snail!” Karkat said, and left for class.

~

When it was Karkat’s lunch period, and he went to go eat with John, he saw Dave was there too.

With a fucking guitar.

“Karkat! Hey, look! Dave brought his guitar today!” John had said to Karkat as Karkat had sat down.

“Well he can take his fucking guitar, and shove it up his stupid ass,” Karkat replied, as he had glared at Dave, despite the fact he could see how pathetic his glare was in Dave’s shades.

“Aw c’mon dude, don’t diss the music before you’ve heard it,” Dave argued, still infuriatingly monotone, and had started to play.

And good god, the boy could play.

Karkat would never admit that, however.

He’d never admit that Dave was one of the best guitar players he’d ever heard. 

And when Dave started to rap, it actually was pretty good. Usually Karkat didn’t like rap songs, as they were normally just the same 16 or so notes on repeat, but Dave’s was actually really good, and very complex. Either Dave knew some secret rappers, or was freestyling. Either way, Karkat was impressed.

Not that’d he’d ever say that, of course.

“Is your ass jealous of how much shit is coming out of you mouth?” He had said, and Dave immediately stopped playing.

“Nah, you should see the size of the shits I take, man-”

“Dave! Ew, gross!” Thank god John had interrupted Dave.

“Suddenly, I no longer have an appetite, asshole,” Karkat hissed as he had glared at Dave.

“Hey, you’re the one who started talking about asses,” Dave had countered.

This banter continued for the entire lunch period, and no one actually ended up eating.

~

Later, when Karkat got home, he was curious as to what else Dave could make, so he went on SoundCloud to listen to Dave’s music.

Well shit.

It’s all really good.

His original stuff is good, his remixes are good, it’s all really good. Karkat would gladly listen to it again. And again, and again, and again.

But fuck, he can’t give Dave the satisfaction of knowing he listened to his music!

~

That is how Karkat Vantas ended up with two SoundCloud accounts, and was constantly listening to music.

No one really took note of the fact that Karkat was now almost always wearing earbuds. John got a girlfriend, Vriska, and was usually hanging out with her and her friends. Karkat and Vriska never got along, so Karkat stuck with Dave. Dave, however, did end up noticing.

Fucking Dave.

And of course! He wanted to listen.

“Dude, just give me an earbud, mine are at home, and if John keeps leaving to go suck on his girlfriend’s face I’m gonna need something to do,” Dave had argued.

“Don’t you have other friends?” Karkat asked. This was a bad question, but he didn’t know it at the time, “I’ve literally never fucking seen you before Egbert introduced us.”

“Nah bro, just moved here from Texas,” Dave said, “now if you’re not gonna let me listen to your music, then you’re gonna listen to mine,” and he took out his guitar.

Karkat rolled his eyes and kept the earbuds in, but turned the volume off so he could listen to Dave play the guitar, and eventually start rapping. It was different from his other stuff, since the other stuff usually had techno aspects.

That’s how most lunches were spent. Karkat pretending to listen to different music while Dave played. Often, Karkat would say that Dave was awful at playing the guitar, and that rapping was stupid.

Not long after, Dave stopped bringing his guitar to school. It was a understatement to say that Karkat was disappointed.

When John’s birthday came around, he invited a bunch of friends over to his house for a sleepover. A bunch of friends meaning, Terezi, Vriska, Aradia, Tavros, Dave, and Karkat.

Karkat wasn’t sure when John got close to Aradia and Tavros, and when he asked Dave, he didn’t know either. They figured it was while John was hanging out with his girlfriend, Vriska.

The party was… awkward. For Karkat, that is. Vriska and John were constantly flirting or making out, Tavros and Aradia were trying to play a card game, and Terezi was attempting to flirt with Dave. For some reason, Karkat really didn’t like the sight of that last thing.

Without anyone to talk to, Karkat ended up listening to music.

Dave’s music, that is.

Karkat looked over at Dave, who was talking with Terezi. Those dumbass shades were still hiding his eyes, and by extension, his emotions. 

Karkat really wanted to see what Dave’s eyes looked like, but how would he ask without it seeming weird and out of place?

Wait. They’re at a sleepover. There’s no way Dave sleeps with his shades on, and Karkat doesn’t sleep at all, so maybe he’ll be able to see Dave’s eyes when he’s waking up or something.

Maybe.

~

When the John’s dad brought in the cakes, plural as there were 7, everyone is surprised, except John and Dave. Well, maybe Dave is surprised, but goddamn stupid dumbass shades are hiding it. John, however, looks completely exhausted.

“You were not kidding when you said your dad would constantly bake you cakes for your birthday, like holy shit, we each get our own,” Dave said. Ok, so he was surprised.

“I knew he would do this!” John whined, “How are we even supposed to eat so many?”

“Easy, we just stuff our faces full of cake, it’s just sugar” Vriska said, “It’s not like we’re raiding Aradia’s Sister’s stash again,”

“Vriska, we’ve only done that once,” Aradia had started, “and we’re not planning on doing it again, since Tavros threw up.”

“Also it’s illegal and you should all have your asses thrown in jail,” Terezi informed.

“Uh, you were there too, Terezi,” Tavros had told everyone.

“Wait, Aradia, isn’t your sister a junkie? Were you guys seriously fucking drinking alcohol and smoking?” Karkat asked, he was stunned that Tavros would ever do that.

“It’s whatever, not like we’re throwing eachother off of cliffs,” Aradia had answered.

“Yeah uh, being thrown off cliffs is, uh, not fun at all,” Tavros explained.

“God, you guys are so lame,” Vriska huffed, “We are totally gonna steal from her stash again, you gonna join us, John?”

“Won’t Terezi like… do something about it? Since she is all about the law?” John asked.

“I’ll be sure to turn a blind eye,” Terezi had assured him.

“Hmm… I don’t know…” John said, “but for now we should try and eat as much of this cake as possible, I don’t want cake for weeks on end like last year,”

“‘Sides, alcohol can really mess with your system, y’know?” Dave had added. This comment had surprised Karkat, as well as Terezi and John.

“Seriously coolkid? It’s not like we’re gonna go blackout drunk. You should join us!” Terezi insisted.

Dave didn’t answer.

~

Too many cakes, too little time.

Seriously, dad Egbert, what the fuck were you thinking? Just keep bringing cakes, why don’t you.

“Mr. Egbert, my man, my pal, my bro,” Dave started, “this is the 26th cake you’ve brought us. We can’t eat it,”

Luckily, Dave was able to manage their escape. Everyone was grateful for that.

The rest of the evening was spent exactly like earlier. Karkat was beginning to think that coming here was a mistake, as John had clearly forgotten how to be a good host in favour of making out with his new girlfriend.

He couldn’t stand the sight of watching Dave and Terezi flirt back and forth, it sat wrong with him for some reason. Karkat was completely over Terezi, he’d realized he’d been a bit of a controlling, mildly abusive shithead.

Tavros and Aradia were just boring. Karkat wasn’t necessarily on bad terms with them, but he wasn’t friends with them either.

Truthfully, Karkat fully expected to spend the rest of the night with earbuds in, ignoring the world as he listened to Dave’s music.

That is, until his earbuds were yanked out, and a headphone set was put over his ears instead. 

“What the fuck!” He had screamed as he threw the headphones off.

Dave chuckled.

“Dude, chill, it’s just a fucking song,” Dave replied.

Oh. 

“What song?” Karkat asked suspiciously, “Because if it’s one of yours I’m burning your headphones.”

“Harsh man, it’s just a song. Put the headphones back on.” Dave insisted.

“Weren’t you hanging out with Terezi?” 

“Yeah, but she started to play that game with Tavros and Aradia, and I didn’t really want to play it,” He paused as Karkat looked at the three, and yeah, they were pretty invested in that game, “Now listen to the song dude,” And Dave put the headphones back on Karkat.

Karkat felt like he probably should admit that Dave’s music is at least somewhat good, but Dave is clearly full of himself and doesn’t need that extra ego boost.

“Sounds like shit,” Karkat said, despite the fact that it was not one he had heard before and liked it quite a lot.

“Nah dude, if you wanna hear shit, listen to this,” Dave put on another song.

It was one of Dave’s older songs. Not the best out of what he’d done, but still very impressive.

~

Neither of the boys slept that night. They simply stayed awake, with Dave flipping through songs, and Karkat insulting them to various degrees.

Karkat was a little upset he wasn’t able to see Dave’s eyes, especially considering the fact that Dave had literally shown no emotion the entire time, but Dave was an asshole anyway. He’d probably just be even ruder if he did show his emotions.

When he finally got home, Karkat was exhausted. He might actually sleep that night, and put off wondering what he’d do about absolutely adoring an asshole’s music.

**Author's Note:**

> Next one will have Karkat getting his crush on Dave, so don’t worry  
> ;)


End file.
